Live Creatively

Archive for the tag “baking”

If you’ve read my blog you know that I am a foodie. And I love to bake too! Its getting chilly here in New England so that only means one thing for me. Bread baking begins! I make a lot of soups in winter and bread is a must to go with it.

I recently subscribed to Cooks Illustrated online and came across their almost no-knead bread method. Sounded foolproof, so I got to work. Apparently NY Times published a recipe for no-knead bread a year ago and it was a craze everywhere. So Cooks came out with their own version adding a little bit of beer to give it that distinctive sourdough flavor. This and many other almost-no-knead bread recipe versions can be found at Breadtopia.com. They even have videos!

I started it last night and it just finished baking this morning and I had to take a picture. I can’t believe how pretty it looks! Renee if you are reading this, you HAVE to try it.

Ok so I did finish the white shirt last night. And the skirt in the picture is a gift from my aunt who just visited me. I couldn’t wear the skirt while she was here because I didn’t have anything which goes with it. This white top also enables me to wear many other pieces in my wardrobe and I am pretty happy with it. I am now convinced that white may not be a bad color on me after all. Thanks Renee for pushing me in the right direction.

Now, about the pattern: It’s my favorite knit top pattern from Vogue 2925. I’ve written a review here. I’ve made this pattern 3 more times and all the tops manage to look different. My favorite method of finishing this top is using Foldover elastic. Since this knit was lacy, instead of lining it, I decided to just wear a white cami underneath. Depending on the mood I am in, I can choose to wear a contrasting color t-shirt under this shirt too.

I can’t even remember how long I’ve had this fabric in my stash for. It was never enough to make a full sleeve shirt so I’ve kept it. But for this project, it was perfect.

And for the record, not only did I finish this top last night, I did end up going to the gym AND bake these scrumptious Banana Nut Muffins! I modified the recipe from King Arthur Flour Book to make them low-fat too. Oh and this time I was finally able to get the tops of the muffins just like you find in the stores. Very crunchy and great texture. The trick is in really not stirring the batter too much. I think I’ll reward myself by having another one of these now. YUMMO!